Ken Davy wrote a refreshing piece in favour of the UK leaving the EU (FA, 3 march), which served as an antidote to some of the nonsense being promulgated elsewhere.
If nothing else, advisers have proved themselves adept at dealing with many different forms of uncertainty over recent years. Presumably, the argument here is that the UK will abandon all elements of MiFID I and II, and that there will be an overnight free-for-all.
The article went on to suggest that the UK would have to adopt something similar to “the Norwegian-style agreement, under which the UK is part of the European Economic Area but still has to adopt EU rules and regulations”.
According to the European Free Trade Association (Efta) Secretariat, between 2000 and 2013 the EU generated 52,183 legal instruments, of which Norway adopted only 4,724 – that is, 9 per cent. Furthermore, the only reason that Norway pays more to the EU than other Efta states is that it chooses to opt into as many common EU projects as possible – there is no treaty obligation on its part to do this.
Some of the ‘certainty’ that many commentators crave for may not be of a welcome variety.
By the way, the Remain camp`s “Leap in the Dark” is a phrase that has been borrowed from Lord Derby in 1867, which ironically referred to a move to increase representation among the people – quite the antithesis of the EU`s undemocratic approach to most matters.
Philip Dodd
Managing director,
Just Advice,
Prestbury,
Cheshire
